- Bright colors, candy-like flavors and devices that mimic everyday items like pens, highlighters and lipstick make vaping products attractive to children.
- CDC data shows 1.6 million students currently vape, including more than 400 middle schoolers.
- Nicotine patches, gum and nasal spray are the proven ways to stop smoking — not vaping products.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Omaha advocates say vaping products are designed to attract kids, not help smokers quit
Bright colors, candy-like flavors and devices designed to look like everyday items have Omaha-area advocates concerned that vaping products are targeting children rather than helping adults quit smoking.
Rita Rodriguez spent years educating people about the health consequences of smoking and worked with local groups to help pass a ban on smoking in some public places. Now, with 2 young kids at home, she is concerned about how vaping products appear to children.
"The color, they, they see it as something fun, so they immediately attach it to being good," Rodriguez said.
While on a walk with her 5-year-old son, he picked up a device on the ground and started playing with it.
"I came closer to him and realized that it was a vaping device. And at some point I was like, oh my god, what is this doing here? But at the same time, it's just very, uh, like unsettling that they look like toys," Rodriguez said.
When asked how it feels that advertisements may be targeting children, Rodriguez did not hold back.
"Well, it is very disappointing in a way because obviously they do it on purpose," Rodriguez said.
"Their customers are dying. So they need to bring new customers in and obviously those are our kids," Rodriguez said.
Erin Smith, manager of health promotions at the American Lung Association Nebraska, says vaping has gained popularity among young people in part because devices are small, easy to conceal and often look like everyday items.
"That could be a pen, a marker, a highlighter, um, a USB storage unit, lipstick, even clothing," Smith said.
The latest data from the CDC show 1.6 million students currently vape. Of that number, more than 400 were middle schoolers.
Smith suggests anyone who wants to stop smoking follow the FDA's proven quit methods, like nicotine patches, gum or nasal spray.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
